Rotary water-meter



(No-Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. l J. A. TILDEN.

ROTARY WATER METER. No. 372,440. PatentedNOv. 1, 1887.

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ROTARY WATER METER. No. 372,440. Patented Nov. 1, 1887.

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UNITED STATES JAMES A. TILDEN, OF HYDE PARK, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE HERSEY METER COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

ROTARY WATER=VI ETER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 372,440, dated November l, 1887.

Application filed January :20, i837. Serial No. 224,965. (No'model.)

fo @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jarras A. TILDEN, .of Hyde Park, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts,a citizen of the United States,

have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fluid-Meters, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in explaining 1e it-s nature.

-The invention relates to the class of meters with revolving pistons, and particularly to that portion of the class which have a free piston or a piston which is confined in itspath or orbit by the hydraulic action ofthe fluid, in contradistinction to those which are conlined in a fixed path by mechanical means. An illustration of this particulartypeof meter willbet'ound in my Patent No. 324,503, August 18, 1885, re-

2o issued November 2, 1886, No.10,77S, and this specification describes an improved form of that meter.

The object of my invention is to simplify its construction and reduce the cost of manufacture.

My improvements relate, first, to a piston having the outlet-passages molded therein, whereby a simple and ett'ectivc arrangement of the ports is obtained, and the ports in the 5o plates being made by drilling only; second, to an improved ease by which the smallest amount of composition or non-corrosive material may be used. This rcsult accomplish by a construction in which the case is divided into three parts:

First, the middle part, which contains the measuring-chamber with its spaces or recesses, substantially as illustratedin my former patent. It also has the main inlet and outlet passages. 4o This part is made of non-corrosive composition, and is inclosed on its ends by composition heads or portplates.

Second, the upper section, which may be of a cheaper metal, such as cast-iron. It contains the inlet distributingchamber andthe reducing-train.

Third, the lower section, which also may be of cast-iron and contains the collectingchamber, which is connected with the main 5o outlet. This construction provides, in addition to the advantages mentioned above, great ease and facility in making repairs.

The middle section, being independent,can be surfaced off on either or both sides. The port-plates also, being independent and, separate, can be surfaced,and the piston of course can be made to accommodate itself to the distance between the plates.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a view of the meter, part in elevation and part in sec- 5o tion, on the line xx, Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is a vcrti cal section on the line z z, Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a plan on the line y y, Fig. '1. Fig. L1 is a view of the piston removed from its case in per spective. Fig. 5 is a perspective View ofthe 65"` top plate removed; Fig. G, a plan of the me-P ter on the line y y, Fig. 1, with the upper plate in position. Figs. 7 and S represent modifications of the same meter and have three and six lobes or recesses, respectively. 7o

The piston D, Fig. 4, has the projections c, in which are the ports or passages d. These may be molded in the piston having the slots k, which connect the vertical througlrpassages d with the periphery of the piston, and each set is connected by the circular passage in continuation of the larger part of the recess, as shown in the section, Fig. 1.

The middle section, A,contains the inlet-passage G and the outlet-passage H. ltsinterior 8o surface has the recesses,three or more in number, to which the piston conforms.

The plates a and b are secured, respectively, to the upper and lower surface of the section A, and are provided with operative and balancing ports. The plate a has the inlet holes or portsf. The plate b has the outlet holes or ports y, which ports are opposed by balane ing-recesses e in the plate a. The said inlets f are opposed by similar balancing-recesses, h, 9o in the plate b.

The chamber Fin the section B contains the reducing-train,such as is common in this class ofnieter, to connect the piston with the register. lt also forms a distributingchamber. Re ceiving the water from the main inlet G, it distributes the water through the chamberTinlets f.

The chamber E in the section C collects the water from the outlets g, and forms a collectroo ingehamber connecting with the outlet-pasn sage H.

In operation the iuid enters the inlet-passage G and passes into the distribution-chamber F, thence through theinlet-portsf into the measuring-chamber in the section A. These ports are uncontrolled,l as are the same relative ports in my said patent, and the liuid entering behiud the lobes in succession presses the piston in its path of revolution. The operation of discharging is different in that the discharge-recesses are in the piston instead of in the plate. Ihe fluid passes out through the slots 7c in the side of the piston into the circular passage which extends through it. Successive connection is made with the circular outlet holes or ports g in the plate b. The principles of discharge are the same as previously described. rlhese ports g connect with the collecting-chamber, which communicates with the outlet-passage It will be observed that economical construction of the meter is obtained in the form illustrated, in that thesmallestamountof non-corrosive material is used. Only that part of the entire machine which bounds the measuringchamber need be of composition.

Economy of construction is further obtained by the molding of the ports in the piston. These ports also are so arranged that they afford an easy outlet and consequent easy action of the meter.. It will also be seen that both the inlet and outlet ports are opposed by recesses in the other plates of the same size and same relative location. These recesses serve to balance the piston in its valvular function in a manner well known. The recesses serve to balance the piston, in that as it is moving over them the piston has an equal area of the fluid-pressure on both sides--thatis to say, by opposing a recess of equal size to an inlet-port the water is able to transmit anequal pressure to the opposite side of the piston as it is moving over the port.

It will be observed that by forming the escape-ports in the lobes of the pistou they can be more cheaply made than it' formed in the port-plates, as described in my Reissue Patent No. 10,778, because they can be made by molding' or in the act of forming the piston. This arrangement or location ofthe ports in the lobes of the piston also enables me to obtain another desirable result, which relatesto the location and construction of the ports in the port-plates, for by arranging the escape-ports in the lobes of the piston I am enabled to form continuations of the escape-ports in the portplates by simply forming circularholes therein so arranged in relation to each other in the plate that at the proper instant the escapeports of the lobes shall register with them. This also enables me to make the counterbalancing-reeesses in each port-plate by the simple method of drilling, as round holes, cavities, or depressions only are needed.l It will also be seen that by making the meterin three sections I am enabled, as I have above stated, to use for the lower and upper sections cast-iron or a cheaper metal than that which it is desirable to use for the middle section, and that v this middle section is preferably made of brass or composition and is shaped -or provided with the inlet or outlet connections-that is, with the coupling ends, which are adapted to be connected with the supply and delivery pipes, of iron or othermetal.

In the operation of the meter the piston may wear upon its ends to some extent, and there may be other Wear which may necessitate the entire removal of the middle section and the substitution of another new section therefor, or the repairing of the middlesection, and when the latter is the case this can very easily be accomplished by facing the ends of the meter in case the piston is Worn at its ends, and

the port-plates and the parts can then be assembled together as though they were new and united with the old parts.

It will be observed that the sections ot the escape-ports in the lobes of the piston extend llongitudinally through the same and are open at each end, so that the fluid contained therein bears against both the upper and lower plates, a b, and does not exert any pressure upon the piston to throw it either against one plate orthe other, a-nd that when the ports are-discharging there is still no pressure exerted upon the piston, the head or pressure being taken by the imperforate port-plate opposite that through which the discharge is taking place; and this feature of the invention is applicable to other forms of piston-meters where the pressurein the piston-chamber is against the side of the meter and the escape is dtllroughfor by the ends of the meter, or where the escape-passages occur between the sliding surfaces of the piston and its case.

Having thus described my invention,I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a meter, the piston having the discharge-passage d, extending vertically through the piston, and theconnecting-passage k, kand the plate b, having the hole g, which passage and hole, when in line, form the controllingpassage from a measuring-space to the collecting-chamber E, substantially as described.

2. A piston for fluid-meters, having the passages d, extending vertically through the piston, and the connecting-passage k, and adapted to act as a valve in connection with a ported plate against which itslides, substantially as described. A

3. A Huid-meter having the section A, containing the measuring-chamber and the inlet G and the outletI-I, the section B, containing the distributing-chamber, and the section C, containing the collecting-chamber, substantially as described.

4. In a meter, the section A, containing the 'measuring-chamber and having the inlet G, p outlet H, and the independent plates a and b attached thereto, the section 13,-' containing the distributing-chamber, and the section C, containing the collecting-chamber, substan tially as described.

' 5. In a free-piston meter, the plate Ia, hav-4 ICO fue.. 1

ing the inlet-holesf and balance-depressions e, whereby the said piston is balanced to the pressure in its movement, substantially as described.

6. In a free-piston meter, the plate b, having the outletholes g and balanoedepressions h, whereby the said piston is balanced to the pressure in its movement, substantially as described.

7. In a free-piston meter, the combination of the casing to the measnrilig-chamber, the piston, the plate a, having the inlet-holes f and the depressions c, and the plate b, having the outlet holes g and the depression 7L, whereby the said piston is balanced to the pressure in its movement, substantially as described.

8. The combination, in a free-piston meter, of a case having a piston-chamber with measuringspaces opening therefrom, a piston having a lobe for each measuring space or recess,

which lobes have-sections of the escape-ports arranged or formed therein, and the portplates having the circular holes formed therein to register with the sections of the escapeports ofthe lobes, as and for the purposes described.

S). rlhe combination, in a free-piston meter, of the measuriiig-chamber, the plates 0r surfaces upon which the piston slides, and a piston having one or more escape-ports extending longitudinally through the same from one plate `or surface to the other plate or surface, and having` side openings, whereby the pressure ofthe iinid is received and distributed equally to said plates and the piston is balanced while the ports are discharging, substantially as described.

JAMES A. TILDEN.

Vitnesses:

F. F. RAYMOND, 2d, J. M. DOLAN.. 

